- dogwood
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/dawg"wood', dog"-/, n.1. any tree or shrub of the genus Cornus, esp. C. sanguinea, of Europe, or C. florida, of America.2. the wood of any such tree.3. a light to medium brown or a medium yellowish-brown color.adj.4. having the color dogwood.[1610-20; DOG + WOOD1]
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Shrubs, trees, and herbaceous plants of the genus Cornus, in the dogwood family (Cornaceae), found in temperate and warm temperate zones and on tropical mountains.The family is noted for its woody ornamental species native to both coasts of North America and to eastern Asia and Europe. Some members, such as the flowering dogwood (Cornus florida), are chiefly ornamental; the European cornelian cherry (C. mas), also an ornamental, has edible fruit; others yield wood for furniture. In the flowering dogwoods, flowers are small; the conspicuously expanded structures are coloured bracts that surround the cluster of true flowers.
Flowers of flowering dogwood (Cornus florida)J.C. Allen and Son* * *
▪ plantany of the shrubs, trees, or herbs of the genus Cornus, in the dogwood family (Cornaceae), native to Europe, eastern Asia, and North America. The bunchberry (q.v.; C. canadensis) is a creeping perennial herb. Flowering dogwood (C. florida; see photograph—>), a North American species, is widely grown as an ornamental for its showy petallike bracts (modified leaves) under the tiny flowers. Cornelian cherry (C. mas), a European species also grown as an ornamental, produces fruit that is eaten fresh or made into preserves or wine (vin de corneulle). The Pacific, or mountain, dogwood (C. nuttallii) resembles the flowering dogwood with minor differences. A few shrubby species are planted for their variegated leaves and colourful twigs—which can be red, purple, or yellow—and as food for game.Since the mid-1970s a blight, dogwood anthracnose (see anthracnose), has infested the North American species, causing particularly severe damage in portions of the eastern United States.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
